Fifty-one Words of Love
by MeetTheREALSoMaKidWriter
Summary: Soul x Maka fics based from words I randomly picked from the dictionary. All Rated T, I can assure you. Mostly fluff, sometimes contains angst or drama.
1. Firework

Fifty-one Words of Love

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. It's cuz Ohkubo beat me to it. xD

Warning: Rated T for some stuff about kissing.

Summary: Maka and the gang are celebrating New Year's Eve. Suddenly Maka goes missing. What will Soul do?

* * *

**Chapter 1: FIREWORK**

fire•work (noun)

-a device designed to produce a striking display by the burning of explosive or flammable materials, usually used at the end of a festival

* * *

Maka stared at the glamorous display of fireworks outside her window. She sighed and reached over to her side to grab her trench coat. Glancing over her shoulder, she noticed Blair in her cat form, trying to catch a view on another side of the window.

Maka had no idea why she didn't want to join the others down there. Maybe she was too engrossed at the thought that no one ever actually wanted to join _her _when she was lonely. All this time she thought at least one person would have wanted to stay with her for a little while. She sighed again.

Carefully, she put her favorite trench coat on and patted Blair on the head. She walked over to the doorknob and left without another move.

She dashed over to the crowd of people, but she couldn't find any of her companions. She checked each and every store, but found nothing. Maka finally gave up searching and idly returned home.

* * *

Meanwhile, Blair sat up and looked around. She was immediately welcomed by a trail of silence. She pouted sadly and got down from the window frame.

Soul was busy eating a scoop of ice cream while the others were exchanging scary stories. He tried to keep the creamy dessert in balance, but then it wobbled a little bit to the left, and fell hopelessly on the muddy pavement. Blair came over to him (in her cat form, of course) and tilted her head.

Soul looked around. He stood up and asked Blair where Maka was. She nonchalantly shrugged, then claimed her spot on Tsubaki's lap. As Kid was about to tell a corny story about something asymmetrical, Soul rolled his auburn-colored eyes. Sometimes Kid could get a bit too obsessed.

Now where was Maka?

* * *

Soul darted off in the opposite direction, pushing several bystanders along the way. His head went around, from left to right, desperately trying to at least get a sign of where his beloved meister had gone.

He placed a hand on top of his unruly hair, shoving some of his bangs from side to side in annoyance. So far, nothing has gone well for him that day. He caught a sight of his motorcycle, so he ran over to it. He started to drive along the busy streets of Death City, nearly missing a woman carrying her three-year-old in her hands. He even tried to avoid a group of peers, struggling to get in a line for their favorite movie.

Death City sure loved New Year's Eve.

* * *

He turned off the engine on his vehicle and scurried off into his apartment. He lightly knocked the door, which was obviously locked. After a few seconds, he soon was met by a pair of large green orbs.

Soul was about to open his mouth to apologize, but was interrupted by Maka's sweet voice.

She yelled (almost practically screaming for the whole neighbourhood to hear) about how he was so insensitive and so ignorant. He patiently listened to his meister's rant, taking in every negative word she threw at him. When she was done, he mustered all of his courage to push her over to the window.

Maka had no idea what was going on, so she quickly tried to wriggle out of Soul's tight grasp. But as she got closer to the window, she finally gave up and quickly shut her eyes. He asked her what was wrong, and she simply replied that she felt as if he was going to throw her out the window.

Soul laughed lightly and placed his soft hands on hers. She slowly opened her eyes and gasped in surprise. He told her that he was so sorry about what had happened; that he was sorry he forgot about her. She was about to retort on how cheesy that sounded, but she was cut off by Soul's tender lips. She tried to squirm out of it at first, but since he was so desperate, she let it be.

* * *

Suddenly, outside their apartment, sparks of colourful fireworks appeared in the distant sky, celebrating the start of the New Year. Kid whined about the asymmetry of the fireworks (he was concerned about its color, generally) and Black*Star just yelled in excitement. The others were worried about Maka and Soul.

Spirit twitched a bit, noticing only now that Maka was actually gone. But he didn't mind. After all, Soul did look for her. She's gonna be all right.

Right?

* * *

Maka, meanwhile, was trying not to get seduced by Soul's current movements. He was trying to push his tongue inside Maka's mouth, but she tried blocking it with her teeth. He quickly used his hands to grab on her chest, so her mouth instantly opened, as the action caused her to yelp in pain. He then pushed his tongue inside her mouth, carefully brushing it on top of hers. She was very inexperienced in this part of kissing someone, since she always thought that kissing only used the lips and nothing else.

She was about to use her arms to slap his face away from hers, but Soul immediately grabbed them by the wrist and kissed her harder. She finally moaned in pleasure, realizing that the sensation was too much for her to handle. He took this as an advantage and slowly took off her tie. She did nothing to stop it since she was busy savouring Soul's mouth and everything inside it. He unbuttoned her blouse and was almost done, until he broke the kiss when he saw Maka's face, all pink and sour, pouting in annoyance.

He stood up straight, and placed his hands on her delicate face. She blushed even more, looking into those perfect red eyes she'd always loved to look at. Her attention went over to the sky, noticing that it was already another year over. But her attention quickly darted back to Soul, who incidentally was touching her bra softly, silently asking if he could take it off. She nodded yes, blushing all the more. As he was about to take them off, someone (preferably Spirit) suddenly knocked hard on the apartment door.

Soul, irked by the fact that he was not going to continue, quickly put Maka's clothes back on her and fixed his hair.

"Uh, I guess we'll continue this later."

"Sheesh. You should've ignored whoever knocked that door and got on with it. The door was locked anyway."

Soul threw a pillow (that came from the couch) at her direction.

"I had to control myself. Otherwise, you would've lost your virginity in a heartbeat."

Maka blushed. Then laughed nervously.

"Stupid Soul."


	2. Minibar

Fifty-one Words of Love

Have some fluffy SoMa for today!

Summary: Maka has a hard time sleeping in bed because of her fear of lightning. And Soul's got a solution.

* * *

**Chapter 2: MINIBAR**

mini•bar (noun)

-a small refrigerator in a hotel room that is stocked with beverages and snacks

* * *

"Ok, let me get this straight, if I sleep in your bed, you'll do _all _the chores for me?"

"Yeah, simple as that."

Maka sighed, placing a hand on her forehead, gesturing her palpable exasperation towards Soul's bet. How would she be able to handle such a mess?

"Hey, no sweat. I'm not gonna _sex you up_, I promise. I just want someone to sleep with at night, instead of my. . .you know," He trailed in a concerned expression.

She knew what he was talking about – that weird teddy bear he keeps sleeping with. He never gave it a name, thinking it was too "uncool" as he claims it to be. But moreover, Maka was pretty sure just _owning _such a toy would cause lots of banter around the whole school.

"Oh come on, Soul. You know how I always hog the blankets. You'd get a cold."

"I wouldn't care."

"I would take up most of the space since I'm so fat."

"You're not fat."

"I snore a lot."

"No, you don't."

"How would you know?"

". . ."

"Well?"

Soul rubbed the back of his head, thinking of a good enough excuse. I mean, what would happen when your meister knew you were actually watching her sleep every single night?

"I. . . guess I didn't hear any noise last night, so I knew you never snored."

"Ah, so you weren't actually spying on me, right?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Suuuure. . ."

Maka raised her head abruptly, gazing over at the aqua blue-ish clock that adorned their right wall (1). _Shoot, we'll be late._

"Come on. This conversation is over. Get ready to go."

"Hn," he went in his room with a nod.

* * *

Maka pressed closer to Soul, lessening their proximity towards each other. He didn't mind at all, sharing a bed. And he knew she was afraid of lightning (2); it was all too good to be true.

"You choose this room on purpose since it would have the best view of the storm, right? You were trying to scare me?"

Soul smiled, using his gentle arms to wrap themselves around Maka's fragile stature. She squeezed her head further so that it would fit beside his.

"You were, weren't you?"

"Maka, it doesn't matter."

Maka grunted, perking her head up when she heard the seemingly "daunting" series of lightning storms outside their hotel window. Soul observed this and immediately squeezed her deeper into his embrace, lessening whatever space that came between them. Her olive orbs watered hastily, and, on response, Soul stroked her head with his hands, caressing her gradually.

"Shh. Don't cry."

"It's your fault. Baka."

He cringed at the dreadful epithet, immediately stopping the action. He then pecked her on the nose and murmured in her ear.

"I love you."

Her eyes lit up and smacked him right on the face. He landed on the ground beside the bed, chafing his cheek as he looked at her worriedly.

"What's wrong with you?!" Maka yelled.

"Huh?" He just stared straight at her, completely wide-eyed.

Maka shook her head and stuck her tongue out at him irately. She plodded over towards their minibar, breathing in the icy air that welcomed her when she opened the small cache of food. She unconsciously selected a carton of non-fat milk (3), which was, coincidentally, what Soul had bought a few hours ago.

_Sheesh, when I come up and tell her I love her, she slaps me and gets milk. Well, that's new._

As soon as Maka entirely gulped down the entire carton of milk, she stepped towards Soul and consigns her foot on the bottom of the bed. She stared into Soul's shady orbs, trying to figure out if what he just said a few minutes ago was correct.

"Uh..."

"Soul?"

"Y-yes?"

"Did you… I mean, you said that, didn't you?"

"Said what?"

"The three words?"

"What three words?"

"You know what I mean, baka!"

Soul closed his eyes and sighed gently. He knew he said those words. He knew she knew. And he knew she knew that he knew.

"Listen, Maka..."

"No, you listen! I need to figure out if what you said was…"

"I LOVE YOU!"

She immediately closed her mouth. That interruption was rude, yet highly accurate. She took a small glance at her pyjamas, which were slightly wet from gulping down the milk a little too quickly.

"I…"

"Maka, I love you."

"I-I know! You s-said that already!"

"I love you."

Maka was starting to blow a fuse. Cantankerous, she snatched a nearby pillow and aimed at her weapon. Instead, her weapon pinned her down to the bed and all her anger slowly dissipated to nothingness.

"Soul…"

"Maka, please."

She pushed Soul off of her and went to the minibar once more.

"No, Soul. Stop."

Soul, obviously irked by the fact Maka won't reply straight, sneaked up to her and grabbed the carton of milk that she was about to imbibe.

"Maka, just listen for once. Or I'll let you sleep by your own tonight."

She stared back at him with her green eyes, so large and so intense that Soul almost forgot to blink.

"Please don't."

Without warning, the lightning, accompanied by thunder outside, quickly rumbled through the pitch dark night. Soul threw his arms around Maka and stroked her hair.

"Maka?"

"Yeah?"

"Let's sleep."

"Okay. But, um…"

"Yes?"

"Let me finish my milk first."

He gazed at the container that was in his hand. Soul chuckled a bit and handed it back to her.

"Why did you drink milk when I first told you I loved you?"

"I need my calcium. Duh."

"Oh, is that it?" he asked sarcastically.

"Well, duh. Besides, I need some milk to help me sleep." (4)

Soul's eyes widened. "Oh, gosh…I-I didn't know…"

"And I wouldn't sleep with you telling me you loved me."

Soul smiled.

Maka grabbed her carton of milk and swallowed all its contents.

"So…"

"What?"

"Can we sleep now?"

"Nope!"

"Wait, why not?" He crossed his arms, piqued and sluggish.

"Can I have another hug?"

"Medium or well-done?" (5)

Even if it was sarcastic in the first place, he didn't need a response. She already thrust herself onto him.

"I love you, Soul."

* * *

**A/N: ****(1)**** It was an aqua blue-ish clock, since I knew their apartment was colorful (rainbow-colored, even, which kinda shocked me, yet made me love them even more), so I had to make a clock that fit.**

**(2) ****I'm slightly afraid of the lightning as well. And since Maka was lacking a particular fear, I suggested that lightning was somehow inaccurate and surprising, which would be really cool to me.**

**(3) ****I was being completely, and totally downright random here. No further explanation required.**

**(4) ****And now at this point, I finally made a reason on why I made her take out a carton of milk out of all things from the minibar. It'd really be confusing if I hadn't made up a reason. (Forgive my ramblings; I'm on a roll here.)**

**(5) ****It's a cute joke I made up. Not sure if you guys would understand it, but take them literally, like, absolutely, philosophically literal.**

**That's all! T****hanks for reading, please review!**


	3. Mutinous

Fifty-one Words of Love

One of my best works! More details about this fanfic below at the A/N. :)

Summary: How Maka and Soul met. Enough said. :)

* * *

**Chapter 3: MUTINOUS**

mu•ti•nous (adjective)

-disposed to or being in a state of rebellion

* * *

"No, I don't want to, Papa."

"Please, Maka? Do it for your papa."

"No. I don't want to."

"But I've chosen the best weapon for you! He'll do you good, I promise! And he's a scythe, like your old man!"

Maka sighed exasperatedly. She had no idea why her father had to pick her weapon. This was completely iniquitous. And besides, why should he be the one to tell her what was the best? Her rebellious side obviously got the best of her that day, but she didn't mind.

"Why is it so important for _you _to pick _my _weapon? Is it the 'in' thing today? Where the parents get to pick their children's weapons?"

"Maka, I'm just giving you an option…" His voice trailed off, maybe questioning why Maka was acting a bit too disobedient.

"Papa, you have no right to give me an option! There's a meister-weapon convention today at the DWMA courtyard (1) and I want to make a very good impression. So don't you dare make an appearance near me; I don't want to mess up." _I might be taking it a bit too far, _Maka thought. _But, a deep part inside of me wants to blurt everything out._

"Oh, Maka…" He sighed deeply and looked back at the scythe weapon he managed to get that day. "I'm sorry for the argument between me and my daughter. I think she's just a bit cranky today."

The weapon grunted, but was still waiting for Maka's final choice.

"Papa, I will _not _accept that guy as my weapon! No matter how hard you tried to get him here, I will not accept him!" She tried to turn away, but her eyes kept locked on the weapon, checking if he was going to react. He didn't.

So she continued, "And another thing, Papa. Why do you have to do this? It's like you don't trust me to look for my own weapon."

"Uh, no, it's nothing like that, Maka!" He countered a little too strident.

Maka stomped her foot, signaling she had had enough of this. So she ran out of the room and left Spirit and the weapon alone in the Death Room with Lord Death at the mirror.

"My, my, Spirit-kun~" Lord Death bounced up and down.

"Lord Death, my poor Maka just doesn't understand," Spirit looked at the weapon.

"Well, she doesn't trust you anymore, that's for sure…"

"But…I was just trying to keep her safe. In case she picked someone too unworthy for her."

He paused, then continued.

"I want to give her the best weapon her mother never had."

* * *

"Stupid Papa," Maka scoffed. "I can do this myself. Finding a weapon isn't too hard."

She finally reached the courtyard and signed up for the convention.

"And you are?" the person behind the counter asked her.

"Oh, uh, Maka Albarn, meister."

"Here," he handed her a small pin, encoded the word ' MEISTER'.

"Oh, thanks." She headed off to the actual convention. The place where she would find her weapon partner.

_So where should I start? _she asked herself. Maka looked around the yard, trying to locate the ideal weapon partner. But all she saw were weapons that were either uninterested, or were already hanging out with their new meister partners.

"Hey, Maka!"

Maka turned around.

"Oh, hey, Tsubaki!" _Finally, someone I can talk to._

"Found a partner yet?"

"Not really. It's pretty hard to find a weapon, right?"

"I guess so."

"Have you found a meister yet?"

"Um…" Before Tsubaki could continue, a blue-haired meister with ninja-style clothing leaped near them.

"I AM THE GREAT BLACK*STAR! THE MAN EVEN GOD FEARS! NYAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Maka fell absolutely silent. Was this her friend's meister? As in, really, truly, honestly?

"Tsubaki..?"

"Yeah, this is him…" Tsubaki smiled.

"Oh, hey, Maka! Haven't seen you in a few years!" The ninja bolted out quite insolently.

"Black*Star, you saw me yesterday at Deathbucks (2)."

Black*Star scratched the back of his head innocently. "Oh, yeah, right. Sorry."

Maka was incredibly incredulous. Why would her kind-hearted friend ever get with Black*Star, the worst ninja ever? Well, in hindsight, he wasn't exactly the _worst _ever. But he was still quite selfish; the exact opposite of Tsubaki. But then again, opposites _did _attract.

_Oh, Maka, just relax. You just woke up on the wrong side of the bed and just need a drink. Or rest. Yes, rest would be good. No! NO! You need to find a partner!_ "Um, excuse me, Tsubaki, Black*Star, I need to go get a drink first. I haven't had breakfast yet."

"That's fine, Maka." Tsubaki smiled again.

"We'll be waiting," Black*Star said. But when he yawned after that, Maka was beginning to think that they wouldn't be staying in the same place for long. But she didn't care right now.

Maka dashed over to the food table and grabbed a bottle of water quite curtly. A few people backtracked from her, but she gulped the entire thing anyway. After which, she wiped her mouth with a handkerchief she kept just in case and headed back to the courtyard.

"Maka!"

She turned around and found herself face-to-face with her friend, Kim. "Hi, Kim! What's up?"

"I just found a cool weapon!" She literally skipped with joy. "Say hello to Jacqueline, or Jackie for short!"

"Hi, Jackie-chan (3)!"

"Hey," she greeted back.

"Well, we gotta go. Jackie wants to try out some of the food on the table over there. We're gonna go check them out."

"But you were the one who wanted to!" Jackie retorted jokingly.

"No, you were!" Then both of them laughed.

Maka felt even more alone. "Oh, haha." There was nothing funny about the situation. She had to find a weapon. Or if all else failed, she'd have Spirit's weapon instead, which she wouldn't want to have.

"Thanks for the greeting, guys, but I gotta go to the bathroom," Maka lied.

"All right, nice to meet you, Maka-chan~" Jackie called out before they disappeared in the sea of people, waiting to grab a bite of the delicious food.

Maka sprinted inside the school, leaving the deafening crowd of meisters and weapons outside. She sighed in relief for a while, and then started sauntering around the school. She saw lots of new adjustments, like the new balconies, adding to the symmetry of the school. Remembering Kid and his symmetry fetish, she chuckled a bit, almost forgetting the reason she was there in the first place.

_There's no way I'll find a weapon here. It's best if I'd go back outside._

But as she was about to climb down the stairs, she heard an ominous musical noise from above her. She shook her head, telling herself that the pressure of getting a weapon was starting to get to her brain and was about to consume her whole being. But she started hearing that noise again, and since curiosity won over her, she decided to investigate where the noise was coming from.

* * *

After a while, she found the source, but when she opened the door, she was surprised to see a boy, about her age, playing a grand piano swiftly and gracefully in front of her. She was careful to not make a sound, so that she could intake the full amount of the musical piece her ears were interested in.

The boy suddenly stopped after a few second she came in, and when Maka noticed he stopped, she forgot to notice that she was already directly behind him. He turned completely around and she noticed his striking scarlet eyes. She blushed for a moment, and that made the boy chuckle.

"St-stop laughing!"

"Sorry," said the boy, but he kept laughing all the more.

"Why a-are you laughing?! St-stop!"

He smiled. Then for a moment, their eyes locked once more. Maka broke the uncomfortable stare and coughed.

"Ah-ahem. Why are you here, anyway? The convention's outside, right? Are you a loner or something?"

The boy smirked, like he was about to tease her again. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to talk to strangers?"

"As a matter of fact, she did," she paused for a while, then said, "I'm just trying to make friends with you so you won't be such a wallflower."

"Well, you look like you're the one to talk, flat-chest," he teased. "And besides, I don't need friends."

She was taken aback by what he had said. _How dare he call me a flat-chest?! He deserves a Maka-chop. And everyone needs friends; what kind of a guy is that? His attitude is nothing compared to his looks. I feel like I hate him already._

"But I do! In fact, I haven't had many friends lately—"

"Oh! So you _do _have other friends. So why not talk to them instead of me, and just leave me alone." He pushed his seat closer to the piano, and away from her. "I don't want anyone near me being too friendly (4)."

_What? _ "Hmph. Big jerk(5)."

He turned back to her quite fiercely. "What?!"

Then Maka suddenly spoke her mind, "I thought with those clothes you'd be a little less terrifying and a bit more mysterious."

He smirked once more. "And attractive?"

Maka's face went exceedingly red. He was mysterious, but attractive? She was really irresolute.

"I…no, I'm…I'm not saying you're…" she stammered. _Embarrassing._

"Don't try to hide it. You came up to me just because you thought I was attractive, right?" He smiled and it completely showed his pointy set of teeth. She cringed a bit.

"N-no! That's not the point!" _Crap, he's taking advantage of me. It's not like this is the first time I've met a guy, right?_

"Then why the hell did you come up to me?" He stood up this time. "Was it just because you wanted me to be your friend?"

"Yes!" Maka answered too quickly. She instantly covered her mouth, but the boy already knew she was quite flustered in front of her.

"Why would anyone want to be my friend?" He seemed skeptical.

"Why not?"

"Didn't I look intimidating when you first saw me?" He revealed his set of sharp teeth again, but this time, Maka didn't have a problem.

"Y-yeah, but…"

"But what?"

"The song was too beautiful; I didn't care how creepy you looked like." _Wait, did I just say that?_

This time, the boy sat back down and looked up at her. "You didn't think my song was terrifying or anything?" There was a faint presence of hope in his auburn eyes, which made Maka terribly insecure inside. _Could he be…?_

"Not really. It sounded really mysterious and I was really interested in knowing who was playing…"

He stopped talking altogether. Both were thinking what would be the next best thing to do at that moment. So Maka broke the silence.

"I want you to be my partner!"

His scarlet orbs shot back at her with disbelief and a touch of respite.

"I want you to be my partner!" Maka repeated.

"Why?"

"Your song was really enticing, and it even somehow pulled my soul wavelength to yours…"

"Oh, so you're a meister."

"Duh." Maka points to her chest. "Says 'Meister' right here."

It took a while for anyone of them to say anything. Until the boy finally made a choice.

"Name?"

"Maka. Maka Albarn." She smiled.

"I'm Soul." He shifted in his seat.

Maka's smile widened as she took her right hand glove off of her palm, then reached it out in Soul's direction.

"What are you doing?"

"Making you my weapon."

He chuckled again, and Maka blushed. "Wh-what?"

"You sounded weird."

"Just hold it."

"Hold what?"

Maka blushed. "M-my hand."

Soul hesitated at first, but smirked and finally held her hand. Their hands stayed for a moment, and then they felt a tingling sensation. "Do you feel that?"

"Yeah, our soul wavelengths connecting."

Soul let her hand go and stood up. "Can I give you a nickname or something?"

"We're not close yet." Maka felt an uncomfortable silence after that, so she added, "You should just call me Maka."

He studied her from top to bottom, not listening to a word she said. She tried resisting the urge to Maka-chop him from there, so that her impression on Soul wouldn't get tampered. But it seemed like it already was.

"Flat-chest or Tiny-tits?"

Thus the Maka-chop became a habit.

* * *

_-8 years later-_

"So, Maka?"

"Papa, we talked about this."

"Y-yes, but would you want…"

"No."

"You already chose for yourself?"

"Yes, Papa. I'm not a little kid anymore."

"I know you're already 21, but can't I just give you an option? (6)"

"Papa, you know I don't trust you anymore, but I trust Soul, okay?"

"You trust that octopus-head? (7)"

"Papa, you wouldn't understand. And by the way, you told me long ago that you wanted me to have a weapon Mama never had. So I do now."

"My baby Maka is finally growing up~ So who's the lucky guy?"

Maka sighed exasperatedly.

"Well, aren't you going to tell your old man?"

She smiled.

"Should I choose for you instead?"

"No, Papa. I made my decision, and it's settled."

Spirit fell silent. Then a light clicked.

"I'm marrying the man you never were to Mama."

Nothing else had to be said. _You're still a rebel, huh. _Spirit thought. _No, you're all grown up now._

So Spirit just smiled. _I trust you._

* * *

**A/N: ****(1) ****I based that part on the fanfic "How We Met" by JessicaGoble. It's pretty much the backbone of this whole fanfic too. I extend my deepest gratitude to her for curing my Writer's Block.**

**(2) ****Deathbucks (or Deathbucks Café) is a parody of the famous real-life Starbucks, which is only seen in the manga. It's a gathering place for Shibusen students and staff. It's also a café where they accept students without money to work there as waiters/waitresses. (Source: .com)**

**(3) ****Get the pun? I've actually noticed that a long time ago, and now that I think about it, was it just a coincidence?**

**(4) ****Uhm, I don't know if this was what I wanted Soul to be portrayed as: an emo piano-player (almost typed in "pain-player"), but I guess it fit him if you'd know my whole back story for him.**

**(5) ****Sorry for the word 'jerk'.**** And I'm so sorry for Maka acting a bit OOC. I guess that's how I was feeling while I was writing this. Poor Spirit, Soul and Black*Star though. I've been a big meanie to them. Or at least Maka was. Lol, I don't even know anymore.**

**(6) ****I'm pretty sure you guys can do the math. You'd know how old Maka was when she picked Soul as her oh-so-seemingly-perfect-scythe-weapon. (****That was meant to be a bit sarcastic. xD****)**

**(7) ****I remember in the English dub, (I think in the first episode) Spirit had called Soul as an "octopus-head", though I'm not really sure how he came up with it. What really weirded me out was that at the end of the episode (the Japanese original one), there was a weird drawing of Soul as an octopus (or just a regular albino octopus with Soul's headband). It was just too wrong.**

**Actually, this story is based on a script version I made while with at a family get-together in front of a Krispy Kreme store. And I showed that version to my sister (Carol Molliniere) and she seemed to like it. ****Somehow.**** And since I randomly picked the word "mutinous" for the topic of my story, and since I wanted to make a story out of my script, I made this with a backbone of both "How We Met" and my script. And it turned out pretty good.**

**Review, please~**


	4. Erode

Fifty-one Words of Love

One of my personal favorites.

Summary: Maka goes a little insane after finding something that ruined her trust in Soul.

* * *

**Chapter 4: ERODE**

erode (verb)

-to diminish or destroy by degree; especially to gradually eat into or wear away

* * *

She tore at the loose fabric, shredding the very memories of that day she once thought was real; the very memory that had actually taught her the reason why men should never be trusted. Ever.

When she was completely through with destroying the hideous keepsake, which was relegated to pieces of subtle mass, she strode across the room, searching for more dreadful things to erode.

Maka Albarn turned into an insane maniac.

This was turning her into a monster; her friends wouldn't even recognize her through her large green orbs now filled with regret and her reddened cheeks that were now stuffed with hatred. Tsubaki didn't find this scary, or quite surprising. She knew Maka was having a hard time already, so she didn't bring the subject up whenever she was talking with her.

It was a whole other story with Liz. She'd talk all day and night about Maka's problem if she had to, but it was never in a bad way. She'd discuss it with her new friends, taking in opinion after opinion, hearing whatever they had to say. But whenever they would talk bad about Maka in front of her, her maternal instincts would pop up (she never knew she had them, in retrospect) and she would just explode.

Black*Star had gotten over Maka's recent madness overload, since he's got "bigger" things to do, or so he seemed.

Even if he never admitted it, he's really worried about her as much as anyone else did.

And Kid would worry just as much, not complaining about symmetry on a daily basis like he usually does, but he replaces those with worries for Maka.

They would ask her questions, never too much, never too less. But Maka kept her mouth shut, constantly glancing here and there, making her look a bit disoriented and out-of-place. She brings a notebook, one with strings binding the pages together, for her to take down notes of unusual things such as the movement of the clouds and the sound of the quaint whisper of the wind.

* * *

Earlier that week, before she had torn the memento into atoms, she was sitting silently on her typical seat, acting as if today was the most ordinary day in her whole life. Kid sat in front of Maka, Tsubaki claiming her place right beside her, and the others were jumbled up somewhere near the right.

Professor Stein kept the class tuned in, something he wouldn't have done if the topic was about checking the internal organs of an atypical creature. No, his lesson for today, of all lessons, was about relationships between partners.

Maka took a quick look around the room, taking an immediate search for a certain albino scythe with white bleach hair, sleepy auburn eyes, and pointy shark-like teeth.

As soon as she did so, Professor Stein took the wrong moment to check attendance. He started out with the men.

"Brooker, Kanato? (1)"

"Present," Kanato (he likes to be called Jeff) said sleepily. His partner, Natasu (2) (she likes to be called Eliza) poked him on the shoulder, telling him in their secret manner to stay alert. He managed to keep a steady eye ahead, the other failing to do what was told.

"Cruiser, Leon? (3)"

He simply raised a hand up, keeping an eye on his other hand. After doing so, he swiped the raised hand on his hair, letting it frazzle a bit to the left.

"Evans, Soul?"

"It's not _Evans_, I keep telling you. _God._"

Maka craned her neck further, grabbing onto her table (4) for support. She saw the fierceness in her weapon's eyes, as he turned his head her way and grinned.

His teeth looked sharp enough to pierce through her own soul.

Maka gulped a little, then settled back in her seat. She then sighed. _He's late again._

"You're late _again_, Soul," Stein repeated, as if he read Maka's mind. "That'll be a deduction from your conduct, and you know that." Soul grunted.

"Like that'd ever be of a hindrance to me." He kept his eyes straight ahead, on his best friend, Black*Star.

"Yeah, dude! Say it like a man!" He leaped on top of his desk and yelled out his battle cry. Poor Tsubaki, a few feet away, was reaching out to him, trying to convince him to stop.

"Just sit down, Evans," Stein smirked, as if he was trying to tease him.

Soul glared for a second at his teacher, but sighed and walked over to his seat, right beside his partner. Maka shot him a disapproving look, as he set his feet on the table and bowed his head as low as he could, seeming as if he was sleeping.

Maka, feeling a mix of disappointment and relief, sat back and tried listening to the lesson.

But then, of course, sleep had coaxed her a few minutes afterward. Just as soon as she had closed her eyes, though, a scream from below had stolen her from her split-second realm of dreams.

One of Maka's classmates and friends, Jollie Hettingfield (5) had passed out traumatically, leaving a concerned meister, namely Lex Cameron (6), to just stand near her body, trying to wake her up.

Stein stopped discussing about how to build a better relation with your partner when he heard the scream. Kim's voice was never that loud unless she was really angry, so it surprised him. Maka leapt over her desk, nearly stomping on Kid's right hand, and reached the bottom with a large thud. Crona, nearby, was wailing deeply, unaware of how to deal with the situation.

Soul bolted upright, hearing the thud of his meister's boots, and climbed down the stairs, fairly quickly.

"What's going on?" He seemed to slur, a sign that usually meant he was half-asleep.

"Jollie passed out, Soul." Maka pulled her weapon closer to the scene, unintentionally pushing people off during the process.

His red orbs didn't seem to widen at the sound of that. Instead, he just yawned. Other times he would have been sent to Hell through a hardbound book that crashed harshly into his skull, but thankfully, it was not the time or place for it.

Lex darted out of the room, with his weapon in his arms, and cut through the hallway, using a shortcut to the clinic. He immediately placed her on the bed, too scared to even blink.

Maka, meanwhile, tried to piece everything together. She knew that Jollie was in tip-top shape that morning, so she was absolutely confused. Jollie was fine in the past week – past month, even.

Soul couldn't stop yawning.

Maka didn't think of yawning as a potential threat to be taken at full-force; what could a small action like yawning do to her life anyway?

* * *

The next day, Soul showed up late once more. Maka was already getting a bit suspicious, with a twinge of worry, and a slight pang of…

Betrayal.

* * *

Another day has passed.

Maka sat bored in class for the first time in her life, playing with one of her little toy erasers. It had the shape of a tiny black cat, outstretched, seemed to be reaching for its own play toy. The tip of the tail seemed a bit blunt, due to being an eraser.

She acted like a child again at that very moment. No worries, no fears, no expectations.

And no betrayals.

* * *

The next day, Soul was absent. Not tardy this time.

Stein noticed Maka's lack of enthusiasm and attention during his lessons. But he decided to cope with it, knowing Maka's not in the mood to be let down even more by low grades.

Still, it'd be best if she would just keep listening even for just a few minutes.

"Class, we'll be talking about the best thing you can do to save your partner relationship after a fight."

* * *

The fifth day.

Maka took the cat eraser in her hands and gently rubbed the face on the side of her paper, eroding her mistakes. She slightly grumbled under her breath, cursing the fact that she had used the head instead of the tail, which was the part that had been used (she has this kind of OCD sometimes (7)).

She's becoming increasingly distant towards her friends. She rarely speaks with them, or even listens to them when they try to crack a joke that might make her feel even the slightest bit better.

Nothing ever worked.

Kid looked back at her retreating figure. "This is too hard to watch." He set down his spoon.

Even at the cafeteria, Black*Star was terribly quiet.

Tsubaki hadn't eaten a bite.

Liz and Patty shared a worried glance.

"Soul is stupid for leaving her here." A man walked in behind them.

Kid looked around. "Lex."

Lex smiled. He took Soul's seat and faced the group of vexed teenagers.

Black*Star's head tilted a little to the side in bewilderment. "Uh, who are you again? I didn't actually get the memo that you'd replaced my best bud."

Lex shifted in his seat and looked at Black*Star, as if he had said something completely out of context. He started twiddling with his fingers, criss-crossing them every other time. It's not that he felt uncomfortable. The tension in the group was enough to make him feel as if his body was made out of deformable clay.

Liz stood up, clearly out of frustration and impatience, grabbed her plate still filled with half-eaten potatoes and two strips of bacon, and headed off, away from the table of distress.

Kid didn't say a word, instead, he kept his head down low, and continued to devour his meal, spoonful by spoonful. Tsubaki stayed silent, fighting back tears of misery. Black*Star simply placed a reassuring hand at the back of his faithful weapon. Patty had not spoken, even once.

* * *

The weekend came, quicker than anyone had ever noticed.

Maka curled up in her bed, twirling a little eraser in front of her. She was looking at it sideways. After a while, she turned it upside-down, slowly and ever-so-surely.

Her life was that small eraser. Dull, on both edges, and anyone could flip it over. Slowly and ever-so-surely.

* * *

She'd had enough.

He never returned; it was a total of six days (counting the days he was tardy).

Maka went through Soul's room, ignoring the fact that privacy was the outline of their rules. She shoved lots of things away from his bed, his room a scattered dominion ruled by the possible Lazy King of Death City.

Music sheets, filthy clothing, old notebooks and textbooks – she had found a massive mess of ultimate Soul-ness.

And since it didn't end there (she knew it right from the start), she pulled out one of his secret drawers, as if she was looking for clues as to where he might have gone off to.

And if he was ever in trouble.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon, and Maka had found a pretty valuable possession.

A glove.

It wasn't hers, she knew. And it wasn't Soul's. It had a striped band at the end of it, following a zigzag pattern quite similar to Soul's zigzag pattern that you could find on the end of his shoes (8), though in a green hue. She also noticed that it had a certain smell to it.

What was Jollie's glove doing in here?

Instantaneously after that thought, she threw it straight on the floor, letting it contaminate the room of her once trustworthy weapon. She fell on the ground, bottom-first, and clasped a hand on her eyes, now sopping wet with tears.

* * *

She laughed. The glove was easily diminishing through the burning red flame. It didn't take her long to suffer from emotional – and possibly – mental breakdown.

Watching it smoulder didn't faze her at all anyway; if anything, she was practically enjoying it to the brink of holding her stomach due to cackling so hard. She didn't remember how she had started the fire, admittedly.

But it was very satisfying.

It was impossible to be the black blood, even if others claimed it to be. It was more than just a dark liquid. It had engulfed her to pure insanity.

No, it wasn't jealousy.

It just had to be heartbreak.

* * *

She wasn't finished diminishing things that came from Soul's room. She had to find more.

Ripping out the glove before it had even reached the flickering flames was very refreshing. _I had sworn she was wearing that kind of glove when she had passed out that day._

It hit her all at once; all the broken pieces of glass, put back together in an effortless way for her to better understand all that had happened.

He yawned. She passed out. He went absent. She never returned.

Maka grabbed a hold of the nearest object, which was a lamp, then threw it across the room. It made a tiny spark – if not a flash – then crushed into a million pieces, the small fragments dispersed on the wrinkled bed. The room went black, and she felt ever so lonely.

She set her knees on the floor, looking a bit deeper this time. She finally saw a picture under the crumpled mess of the bed. She tried making a figure out of the darkness, staring at the tiny image before her.

Eraser.

That was the first thing that ever came to mind whenever she saw that cat, Blair.

Her eraser did look a lot like her, she admitted. Then her attention came zooming into the background.

His face, young and free-spirited, almost jumped out at her when she noticed it. She was also in the background, blissful and nearly compelled with newfound courage.

Her face lit up a little, remembering that same day, that day after she had defeated the Kishin with her bare hands (and that was literal). They were playing tag, like little innocent children, running around, arms flailing, teeth showing, and faces lifting.

A tear slid down her cheek, like it was emphasizing the fact that she changes her mood swiftly.

She set the quaint image below her feet, not bearing to look at it again, for it made her more emotional than she already was.

* * *

Thank goodness she didn't burn it.

Maka had finally started coming back to school, after a few weeks. She never saw Jollie or Soul again; she probably already was convinced of the rumours she heard that they ran off somewhere together.

Kid and the others still don't recognize her. Her usual bright smile was faded into merely a small curve. She began to talk a little less than normal, and she even barely brings her Book (9) anymore.

The Maka Albarn that they used to know, was no more.

Liz somehow transformed as well, and that led to a few adjustments, letting in Lex and Crona (not that Crona wasn't part of the group before) into their gang of meister-weapon pairs.

He wouldn't say it, but Lex really misses his partner. Hearing the rumour also upset him a little, and he would constantly apologize to Maka every now and then, to which she would always reply, "It's okay."

* * *

But rumours were rumours.

Mistakes were mistakes.

Friends were friends.

Men were men.

But not Soul.

Never.

* * *

It all happened when Maka was about to leave for the day, halfway through her Math project, which would be a piece of cake, she would say.

She pushed herself through the crowd of eager students, rushing in and out of the school.

Summer was here.

_Fourteen days of complete and utter loneliness, huh _(10)_, _she thought to herself, practically grinding her way out of the mob of adolescents.

Maka bumped into a lot of people that day, until she finally reached her destination: the lockers.

She carefully checked left to right if anyone was near her, then continued. She took her lock and fumbled for her keys. When she was done unloading her things for the summer, remembering to bring the important stuff (like assignments and projects that would be due after the summer), she heard a familiar voice.

"Hey."

Maka tensed up a bit, but when she turned around, her mouth had formed into a little curve.

"Hi, Lex."

"Um, you okay?" That was a stupid question.

"No."

Lex heard the intense melancholy in her voice, realizing that he had been taking advantage over that moment a little too much. He let his hand play with Maka's lock a bit, until she had decided to speak.

"If that's all, would you please leave me alone?"

He almost dropped the lock upon hearing this, and as if on instinct, he gently took her arm. "Maka, I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be sorry, Lex."

"It's just that…Jollie…"

She shoved her arm away from him, not wanting to go further with that conversation. "Lex, I don't want to talk about that."

He kept going. "She was sick in bed for two days, so they had to send her to a hospital…"

Maka only heard his voice trailing off, not believing a word he said. She didn't _want _to believe him, since she'd seen clean evidence in Soul's room. So she put a hand up in front of his face, instantly shutting him up.

"I found Jollie's glove in Soul's room a few weeks back," she said, deciding to be very frank about it. "And I know now for a fact that they – "

"Wait," Lex placed her hand away. "You found her glove in his room?"

"That's what I just said, didn't I?" She always loved to be sarcastic in times like this.

"Jollie was in the hospital for as long as I could remember, Maka."

At this, Maka was obviously intrigued. "But…you said you thought the rumours…"

He shook his head. "Her mother called me this morning. She said she'd been in the hospital." He ruffled his hair, a thing he'd do when he was furious. "And to think, this school hadn't told me."

Maka's eyes widened, for the first time in a while. "She…she's in the hospital…?"

"That's what I just said, didn't I?" Lex smiled.

Maka beamed back. _Lex had freed me._

To ruin the momentum, though, a voice from behind them spoke.

"I'd suggest you flirt with someone else, Lex."

Lex was the first to react. He turned around and smiled wider, if possible.

"Soul."

* * *

"I told you already, Maka. I. Am. Sorry."

She had ignored him for the past hours, still recovering from what Lex had told her that afternoon.

_Jollie was in the hospital for as long as I could remember._

She threw herself on her bed, as soon as they entered their apartment. Incoherent mumbling filled the room; Maka being the source.

Soul knocked on her bright pink door politely, even if it wasn't closed.

"Hey."

She kept mumbling. He grinned, moving closer to her, sitting at the other end of the bed. He stroked her gentle, ash-blonde hair, murmurs still heard beneath her petite lips.

"Can't hear 'ya."

Maka bolted upright, a bright pink tongue pulled out of her mouth. "I'm not supposed to be talking to you."

Soul didn't move, his hand still caressing her hair. "I just wanted to say sorry. I didn't mean to leave you."

The words nearly stabbed her heart. _Was I wrong? _ "You were gone for almost two months."

Soul sighed. _Was I gone _that _long?_

Maka sat up and brought her legs closer to her chest, setting her chin on top of her knees. She hugged them tightly, since she couldn't think of anyone else to trust but herself.

"Why was there Jollie's glove in your room?"

He stopped for a moment. Maka waited for him to confess about a long, ongoing relationship between him and Jollie, but it never came. He just sat there, speechless. Or so she thought.

"Who the hell is Jollie?"

Her ears perked up at the sound of that. _Who the hell is Jollie? _"You…you mean you don't know her?"

"As hell I don't. Who is she, anyway?"

Maka's legs fell back on its earlier position, staring back at her albino partner in disbelief. Her lips trembled, realizing that she had created a black hole: meaningless, but deadly.

"Wait. You were looking through my stuff?" His voice went stern.

The reply came like a chirp. "Y-yeah…"

His eyebrows cocked to one side in puzzlement. "There was no glove when I came in."

"When did you last come in there?"

"About half a month ago."

"What time?"

"Around morning; you were at school then, I bet."

Her mouth formed into an O. _I'm so stupid._

He continued, "And I didn't find any glove."

* * *

It took her more than a day to realize her mistake.

She had been hallucinating.

Jollie came the next day with the same glove; the glove unshaved, unharmed, and burn-free.

Soul was out doing a few Death Scythe preparation lessons (11); she was as furious as Lex when she found out.

"The school never tells us anything."

* * *

Maka entered Soul's room a year later.

It completely transformed into a neat and tidy sanctuary, piles of music sheets stacked on the desk nearby, clothes professionally hung on a clothesline outside, and his notebooks and textbooks lay underneath his drawers, perfectly arranged.

She was impressed; a few Maka-chops could change a man.

She went through some of his drawers, repeating the same pattern she had done a year ago. She retraced her steps, carefully wavering her way in the clean maze of her partner.

After a while, she'd figured that the picture she once found was also a figment of her imagination, just like that glove. She gave up searching, picked herself up, and walked out the door.

She shut it closed.

* * *

**A/N: ****(1) ****Kanato "Jeff" Brooker is one of my OCs. I'll explain more about his personality in my future fanfics.**

**(2) ****Natasu "Eliza" Thomas is another one of my OCs. I put a lot of them here for the roll call, ne?**

**(3) ****Leon Cruiser, one of my OCs. He was based on the fanfic "Training Days" by Lacrow. Thanks.**

**(4) ****I don't know what to call that thing they use as desks. I called it a table, but if you guys know, I'll be glad to change that word.**

**(5) ****Jolanda "Jollie" Hettingfield is one of my OCs. I got inspired by creating her one day, while role-playing with one of my RP friends on Facebook. I had created her meister along with her.**

**(6) ****Alexander "Lex" Cameron was created along his weapon (shown above).**

**(7) ****I happen to have that OCD as well, though.**

**(8) ****I'm talking about the yellow shoes Soul wore from Episode 1 until Episode 24 (in the anime).**

**(9) ****"Book" is what I call her big blue GanGan book, the one she keeps bringing throughout the day to randomly crush people's skulls whenever they get on her nerves.**

**(10) ****Summer in Japan is fourteen days. More or less only two weeks. I feel really bad for them.**

**(11) ****I think I went out of context bit. But, it'd do well for Soul's reason for being absent. Although, I'm pretty sure it kinda ruined the momentum (if not the plot) of the story.**

**It's still cool, guys. .**

**Review please. ****Or Maka will take your soul. /justkidding**


	5. Mutual

Fifty-one Words of Love

Prepare for ultimate fluffiness that all started with an ice cream cone.

Summary: Soul and Maka fight over an ice cream cone. Then strange events happen afterwards. (I'm not good at summaries. .-.)

* * *

**Chapter 5: MUTUAL**

mu•tu•al (adjective)

-given and received in equal amount

-having the same feelings one for the other

-shared in common

* * *

"Can I just have one bite of it?"

"It's mine."

"Come on, we're partners! Let me just have one lick!"

"I bought it, I used my own money, I went to the store myself to buy it, so it's _mine_."

Soul grunted. He wasn't able to think about another excuse to have a taste of the delectable ice cream cone his meister had bought.

"Makaaaa…" He slurred. "It's suuumeeeer… And it's soooo hoooot…"

She continued licking her precious treat, teasing Soul's starvation. "There's no way I'll just hand it over." She wiggled her fingers and glared at her weapon. "Your germs will get over it."

He smirked, pleased that he found a way to devour it. Soul stood up from his seat and lunged forward, licking his new palatable reward.

"H-hey! No! It has _my _germs on it!" Maka said, drawing the treat away from his tongue.

It just made Soul grab onto her arm and pin her on the ground, leaving the chair to fall on their side and the tasty ice cream cone scattered on the floor. Maka and Soul stared at the mess and groaned.

"I didn't even get to finish it…" Maka sighed, standing up from the awkward position she was in with Soul. She went to the kitchen to fetch a mop, walked over to the puddle of dispersed treaty goodness, and started cleaning it all up.

Soul watched with a frown, knowing it had been his fault for destroying the once sweet delicacy. "I-I'm sorry, Maka… I'll, uh, buy a new one for you…"

"It's okay, I'll do it myself," she said, grumbling as she tossed the discarded clutter in the trash bin next to her. She put the mop back and went in her room. "I'll just go out and get another. If you want, I'll get one for you too, so that you won't try catching mine again."

She reached for her messenger bag (1), fumbling a little on the strap. Soul walked in her room, scratching the back of his head.

"Maka, I said I was sorry…"

Maka blinked at her scythe weapon. "I'm not mad at you, Soul."

"You _are _mad at me," he said, his hands falling at his sides.

She strode past Soul, who stood at the doorway of her room, and climbed down the stairs outside the main door of their apartment. Without another word, she was gone.

Soul leaned back on the doorframe, sighing. After a few moments, he stood up instantly and ran after his partner.

* * *

"Two, please."

"So…two chocolate ice cream cones coming right up, miss."

Maka beamed and sat down on a nearby bench, patiently waiting for her creamy delicacies. She scanned the park and noticed a few children flying vibrantly-colored kites. One girl from the bunch tripped over a stone while chasing after her loose kite which flew to the top of a towering tree.

Maka neared the little girl and took her in her arms. "It's okay, little girl. Don't cry."

The tiny toddler wiped her giant green orbs and sniffed. "M-my kite…" She sniffled a second time.

"Don't worry. I'll get it for you," Maka ruffled the little girl's hair in a playful way, making the child giggle uneasily.

Maka paced across the park and over to the tree. It looked almost menacing, if it weren't for the kite perched on top of its leaves and the birds that sang past it. She gulped once before lifting herself up the tough branches of the tree. The little girl followed Maka quietly and sat down on the grass nearby.

"Oh man, here goes nothing," Maka mumbled to herself, reaching for the last branch. To her surprise, she grasped the colorful kite with ease. The little girl below clapped and cheered. Maka smiled, blushing.

She carefully traced her steps down the terrifyingly steep branches of the tree. One by one, she shifted closer, nearing the child.

But a bird landed on a branch not far from where Maka was about to step on. She fumbled and wobbled, and to her and the child's dismay, she fell backwards from that branch. She knew what would happen next. The inevitable was a cruel destiny. But fate took an astonishing turn when Maka had been caught by her faithful saviour.

"S-Soul!"

The little girl yelped, but sighed in relief when she had finally received her kite back. A woman, near her early thirties, scampered near her child and took her in a loving embrace. The little girl's mother blinked at the meister-weapon pair and beamed.

"Thank you so much!" She squeezed the two partners. "Such wonderful courage, young lady. And your friend, such faithfulness!"

Maka looked at Soul and smiled. He grinned in reply.

"Ah! I know you!" the mother said excitedly. "You're Maka Albarn, the girl who saved us from the madness of the Kishin!"

"Oh, um, I wasn't really the one who did it on my own, ma'am," Maka admitted. "It was my friends and Soul who help–"

"Samantha, this young lady who saved you was the same one who saved us all from the Kishin!" the mother interrupted, a bit rudely.

The little girl squinted at Maka, almost as if she doubted her own mother. But then, her eyes opened wider and she smiled. "I'm Sammi! I wanna be just like you when I grow up!"

Soul had to stifle a laugh. Maka glared at him for a moment, and turned back to Sammi. "I'm pretty sure you'll be like me if you work hard to achieve your goals. That's how I made Soul into a Death scythe pretty easily. Having a Death scythe is–"

Sammi gasped, interrupting Maka the second time. She started bouncing around her idol, squealing all the more. This created a huge crowd of tourists and locals, surrounding the four and the intimidating tree.

"I will work very very hard to be like you!" Sammi cried over and over again.

The crowd murmured between themselves, exchanging glances and looking every other time at Maka. She felt a bit uncomfortable with this; Soul could clearly see that.

"Excuse me, um, miss, but we need to be going now," Soul said, a bit impatiently.

"Wait a minute," Sammi's mother pulled out a camera from her bright pink pouch. _Oh, joy, _Soul thought. "Let me document this event so that Sammi can take a look at this picture forever!"

Maka sweatdropped. She leaned against Soul's shoulder and whispered, "Don't you think they're a little too much?"

Soul shrugged; Maka's head bobbing awkwardly as he did. "It's kinda weird with these many fans. I wonder if I actually have any."

Alarmed by the statement, Maka lifted her head from his shoulder and looked away. "Figures. _Cool guys _have to have _fans_."

He glanced at his partner, confused at why she's having such a reaction. He didn't have time to think too much about it at that moment yet, since Sammi's mother's voice echoed loudly in front of them.

"Okay! This camera's on a timer, so we'd better hurry!" She dashed near Maka, cuddling her daughter. "Smile you two!"

"Err.." Maka trailed off, forcing a tiny smile. Soul had a hard time smiling too.

"Cheese!" Sammi yelled out and the picture was finally taken.

* * *

Maka yawned as she leaned on Soul's head. He had to carry her back to the apartment; climbing up trees and dealing with fans were too much for one day.

"Hey, naptime's over, Ms. Popular," Soul smirked as he dropped Maka on her bed.

She threw a pillow on his head. "Shut up."

He laughed a bit, then walked over to the kitchen. "Want something to eat?"

Maka's face dropped. Soul turned around, noticing her bizarre silence.

"What? What's the matter?"

"M-my ice cream…"

"Huh?"

"DAMMIT!" She threw her face on the headboard and moaned loudly.

"W-wait, Maka, what's wrong?" He darted into the room.

"I…I forgot to get my ice cream…" She turned around, and Soul noticed her eyes were filled with tears that were fought back.

"Hey, it's just ice cream–"

"NO! IT'S NOT JUST STUPID ICE CREAM, SOUL!" She threw another pillow at Soul's direction, but it missed him by inches. She buried her head in her blanket, sobbing.

Soul ruffled his hair and neared Maka. "Look, you saved that little girl's kite. Isn't that better than getting cruddy ice cream? Besides, you should save more money instead of getting more ice cream if you wanted…"

"Soul," Maka started. "You don't get it." She sobbed even louder this time.

He stood up, irritated, and went in the kitchen. He opened the fridge and took a brown plastic box out, along with a spoon.

When he came back, he plopped it in front of his meister.

"Go, have some. It'll make you feel better."

It took a few seconds for her to lift herself from the blanket. She sat up and stared at the box.

"W-what…"

"I bought it for you," he confessed. "To make up for that ice cream cone I messed up."

She just sat there, staring at the box of mouth-watering goodness. She was tempted to open it, but she just couldn't. "No, Soul. You eat it."

"No, Maka. _You _eat it."

"You bought it, you used your own money, you went to the store to buy it, so it's _yours_."

"Maka, I said no. It's yours now. Just eat it."

She didn't move a muscle.

"Fine. I'll feed you myself," he declared. He took a spoonful of chocolate-flavoured creaminess and placed it near Maka's mouth.

"Say 'Ahh'."

Maka blushed, scoffing at her bad luck. Soul smirked, taking the advantage of her blush and used his own hand to open her mouth and shoved the ice cream in without her having much time to actually react.

She tried not to chew, but she knew it would melt anyway. She had no choice but to do as he says.

"That's it. Now one more."

The whole event started once more, making Maka a little too uncomfortable. But this time, to make matters worse, Soul leaned closer, their faces just inches away. "Open up wide, Maka."

She did what he had to do, so she reluctantly opened her mouth.

* * *

After a few scoops, Soul sighed. "You're such a slow chewer."

"Am not. Shut up." Maka grumbled, turning away.

He smirked. Awkwardly, Soul shifts from his original sitting place to the area beside Maka. "You okay now, though?"

"Sorta." She leaned back on the headboard, sighing. She looked back at the box; a quarter of ice cream taken out.

"Wanna eat some more?" he asked, noticing Maka's stare. "Or are you on a diet?"

"Didn't I tell you to shut up, Eater?" she spat out.

"Yikes," Soul smirked again. He reached for the box and carefully took another scoop of ice cream. "Don't resist this time."

"Okay, okay," she snorted.

She closed her eyes, obviously ready for the expected, so she didn't need her eyes for this one.

Until she felt something else enveloping her lips.

Soul was kissing her.

* * *

"I can't believe you did that."

"Your lips were tempting me."

"Oh, so my lips are the only parts of my body that are actually attractive. Thank you."

"Maka, I'm not a big fan of sarcasm."

"Me neither. So just stop."

Soul shifted uncomfortably in his sitting position. He didn't know what embarrassed him more: the fact that at sixteen (2), his kiss with Maka was his first, or the fact that the ice cream he had initially scooped up for her had melted and dripped on his pants after the kiss.

"I'm sorry."

"What're you so sorry about?"

"I mean, I just kissed you, and I didn't even bother to ask you if you wanted to."

Maka sighed. "No, that's not the problem here." She paused for a moment before saying, "You love me."

He managed a slight nod.

"I don't believe it."

"What?"

Maka also shifted in her seat, edging farther away from her weapon. "I'm going to do my homework." She stood up and walked near her bookshelves. Through the many books, she chose one and started flipping through the pages.

Soul, meanwhile, mentally slapped his face in total defeat and rage. _I'm so stupid; why would I think she'd like me anyway?_

He got up from the bed and marched near Maka. She looked up from her book and stuck her tongue out at him.

"What do you want?"

"Do you love me?"

She groaned and stared at her book, more intrigued with math problems than romantic dilemmas. "I'm kind of in the middle of something here, obviously."

"Can you please just do me a favour?"

For a moment, the world seemed as if it had stopped moving. Until Maka tore her gaze from the Calculus workbook and glared at Soul.

"Fine. What do you want me to do?"

Soul walked over to her bed, sat at the other end, and pushed a familiar box near her. She gaped at the box, oblivious to what his favour would be.

"Feed me."

* * *

"You're such a big baby, you know that?"

He chuckled a bit, but obeyed her anyway. After a few spoonfuls, he noticed that Maka was getting irritated.

"Come on, Maka. Don't give me that face."

"I don't want to do this anymore. I'm not really crazy about feeding my weapon who's, like, a year older than me."

"One more?"

She groaned quietly, but did it anyway. "Close your eyes first."

"What? You're gonna spread it all over my face?"

"Just close it and shut up, will you?"

"I will, I will. Just stop telling me to shut up."

Finally, Soul closed his eyes.

"Open your mouth."

"Aah."

"Wider."

"Crap, Maka, that better not be the whole box or something."

"_Wider_."

Sighing, he did as he was told. Waiting for a few moments, he wanted to open his eyes, just to check what was taking her so long.

He was too late.

Maka was kissing him.

* * *

"Maka, you gotta check this out."

"What is it?"

"There's something really weird going on with your email."

"Wh-what?! Soul, I told you specifically _not _to mess with my messages."

"No, no, I'm not messing with them. I just found out that you've got quite a lot of fangirls and fanboys."

"Yeah, I've noticed, like, a year ago."

"You really love to disappoint me, huh."

"I'm not kidding. It was like that since a year ago. I've been receiving lots of fanmail ever since that day when I defeated the Kishin(3)."

Soul squinted at the bright screen. "I-it's just so…overwhelming, you know?"

"Nah. I bet you'd have more fangirls than I'd ever have."

"What makes you think that?"

"You're albino, which I personally thought was completely hot beyond belief…"

"True…"

"And you act like you don't care, but you do, which makes you totally attractive…"

"Wait, what?"

"And you're a great kisser," Maka winks at him playfully.

He gulped. "Y-yeah." _Stop blushing, idiot._

"Hey, why not check your email?" She played with his white bleach hair. "Check it out and I'll prove to you that you've got more fangirls than I do."

"Shut up," he retorted. "You know that's not true."

"Even if it isn't…" She reached over and kissed him on the lips. "I'll love you forever, no matter what."

Soul grinned.

"So…how many fangirls you said you had?" (4)

* * *

**A/N: ****(1) ****She carries a messenger bag sometimes. (Source: Check out a few Soul Eater manga chapters and the doujinshi "Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver" by niwatori [a famous SoMa doujinshi artist])**

**(2) ****I bet Soul's sixteen-years-old, while Maka's fifteen. It just seemed really realistic.**

**(3) ****I'm sure she'd be receiving loads of fanmail even **_**before **_**she defeated the Kishin. Just saying.**

**(4) ****Soul says this, okay?**

**The last part with the email happened a few weeks later after that ice cream incident, where they became a couple. :3**

**Terribly sorry for using the words "delectable" or "creamy goodness" and whatnot for my description on ice cream. It was weird. And it kinda clicked at that time for me. It….just….just REVIEW please~ o3o**


	6. Sheen

Fifty-one Words of Love

One of my personal favorites. 3333

Warning: This fic contains feels. You have been warned.

Summary: Soul and Maka are engaged. But certain events change their fate.

* * *

**Chapter 6: SHEEN**

sheen (adjective)

-beautiful

-shining, resplendent

* * *

The window's gaping bright light clung onto the left side of the bed for a while, until after a few moments, it had practically stung – if not, engulfed – Maka's view on the world.

She shifted a while, covering her face with the back of her hand.

"It's morning."

* * *

_Flashback_

This day turned out to be very eventful, in many dreadful ways.

First of all, Maka had chosen the perfectly wrong time to get up at seven in the morning, when, supposedly, this was the time when first period actually started.

She scurried off to the bathroom; a weary and impatient scythe weapon sprawled on the couch nearby.

"Maka, what the freaking _hell! _We are going to be _so_ late because of you, and you told me yesterday that I had to wake up early," Soul scoffed, implying the already obvious, as soon as she emerged from the bath.

"Whatever, at least we'll be late, rather than being absent," Maka shot back, sticking her tongue out at him. It had been three weeks since that last incident, where Soul had accidentally thought that it was a weekend, so he had slept late, and never arose from bed the next day.

"It was _three weeks ago_," he reminded, gesturing to a far-off area, meaning he was explaining a time frame. "Why can't you just let me live that down, Maka? It was the past."

"Yeah, okay, whatever, Soul, we need to go," she said as she scampered back in her room, getting dressed.

He threw his head back, lingering on her last words: _We need to go._ Damn straight, he thought. While I'm the one waiting my ass off here.

* * *

"What took you guys so long? Man, I even had the greatest entrance today, too."

"Shut your face hole, doofus," Soul irritatingly replied. "It's just that…Maka had some issues."

Black*Star shrugged, completely missing the initial point. "Look man, I know you and Maka share the same apartment, like me and Tsubaki and prissy Shinigami with his guns (1), but why can't you two get along? It's like, you two were just messed up partners and Lord Death is gonna finally realize one day that you two really aren't compatible."

"That's not true, dude!" Soul snapped, a bit too loud, as he noticed the awkward silence that came afterwards. He coughed and corrected, "I mean, she's already a great meister, why bother switching?"

Black*Star looked at Soul as if he had just came from another planet. "Switching? I never said anything about that, dude."

Soul just blinked. Then cringed.

"Dude. You…" Black*Star trailed off, using a different kind of voice. "You like her…"

Soul coughed and blushed. _I'm going to kill you._

"You _do_, don't you!" He flailed, arms up in the air and back down.

"No, man! That's…it's not it!"

"Yeah, whatever, man. It's just really weird," he said, then stuck out a thumbs-up to no one in particular, considering everyone else in the hallway weren't listening to either of them, anyway.

Soul stopped walking, eyes wandering over to the left. Black*Star kept trotting ahead, still talking, not even sure if his best friend was even listening. _What a moron, that Black*Star,_ Soul thought as he neared the Death Board(2).

His eyes darted every which way, stopping slightly as he checked each one. _Done. Finished. Check. Completed. OK._

Until his bright auburn orbs spotted a unique card. He peered closer, staring at the silver writing. He couldn't make out what it said at first. But when he had recognized the handwriting, he didn't need to guess much longer.

"_A sound soul, dwells within a sound mind, and a sound body."_

And under it, it said, "_Incomplete._"

_Flashback end_

* * *

"Okay, okay. Let's try…hippopotamus!"

"Crap, no. That's too long," Liz bit on the end of her pencil. "Try something…uh…with…" She blinked at her fingers, counting away as Patty bobbed her head cheerfully beside her older sister. "Maybe, like, seven letters only?"

"Jeez, why not eight?"

"You think you're so smart," Liz flicked a lock of her hair off her shoulder with her free hand. "We can't just put another box here. It's totally, like, part of the game."

"Then that means crossword puzzles are impossible to play, therefore, I shall not play."

"Kid, don't act all childish and freaky on us," she double-checked her fingers, to see if any of her nails got chipped. "It's really getting on my nerves."

Kid frowned. "Well, at least Patty has good taste! She listens to what I want to say!"

Liz laughed. "That's because she'll laugh either way, whether you're in tears or in a psychotic phase. She'd always be by your side just to crack up."

He sighed exasperatedly, having enough of this conversation. He checked his clock; the big hand neared the ten, while the small hand was trying hard to catch up with the five. Kid looked around, knowing it won't make a difference (though it couldn't help to try), figuring out what had happened with the others.

"Are you sure they had received the text you sent them?" Kid swatted a bee that buzzed asymmetrically in front of his crossed legs.

Liz rummaged through her purse, cleverly placing her hand in it, letting her hand weave its way around the wallet's wide expansion, and finally shoved out her peach-colored flip-open cell phone. She pressed quickly on some of the buttons, slowing down on the threes and the commas, until she had pressed the back button hard and closed it tight, placing the phone back in the purse.

"Well?" Kid asked impatiently, as Patty got distracted by a moving vehicle out the window.

"They had received it," Liz sighed before continuing, "But there was a problem."

Kid knew problems more than anyone. He had them every day (though, most likely it'd be about asymmetrical objects), but he couldn't help but wonder why on earth did they pick today of all days to be having problems?

But soon, he'd regret asking that, and it would come shooting down on him like a blow to the head.

* * *

_Flashback_

"Soul? Would you mind telling me why on earth are you dragging me like this?"

He didn't answer immediately, instead focusing on the road in front of them. Maka pouted, her very own action gesturing her palpable annoyance to his extended arm, with its hand, that had been pulling her sleeve up until they had reached the destination.

Maka stared at it. She didn't know what to think of it. So, she just sighed in awe.

"Well? What do you think?"

"I…" she had managed, not sure whether to cry or smile in happiness.

So she did both.

* * *

"Wow, Maka, that's really lucky of you!"

Maka blushed. "Y-yeah, I guess…"

Tsubaki smiled, and added, "I'm happy for both of you."

Maka breathed a sigh of wistfulness into the receiver. It's not every day that you get the surprise of your life. And just that morning, Maka had luckily gained it.

"Y-yeah…I…guess…" Maka repeated, any other words not on her vocabulary at that moment.

Over the phone, she had heard a buzz, then a scruffy noise, until it had been replaced by a high-pitched scream.

"YAHAAAAAAA! MAKA!"

"Uh, h-hi, Black*Star…" she had managed, thankful to have something else to say, aside from all those Y-yeah, I Guess she'd been giving right before this minute.

"THAT'SSOFRICKINAWESOMEDUDE,YOUANDSOULAREGETTINGHI IIIIIIIITCHHHHHEDDDD!"

And it was true. Soul had just proposed to her that morning (3). And as if on cue, Soul appeared near the doorway, wiping sweat from his brow. He had just been assigned on a mission ten minutes ago, and it had looked like he came hastily, with frazzled hair, slightly damp clothes, and a small bruise on his right shoulder.

Maka's gaze was on the TV, which was playing a commercial on dandruff, until she heard footsteps from behind her. She turned to face Soul, with a smile on her face, then it was quickly replaced with a concerned frown, something Soul didn't want to see at all.

"Soul!" Maka shouted, practically dropping the phone on the couch, landing with a small thud. "What happened to you?"

He flinched, not expecting this kind of tone from his fiancée. The weight on his right leg shifted to the other, then he exhaled. "Look, I can explain–"

"Your clothes! Why didn't you bring an umbrella? And you really need to fix your hair! Right now!" she replied, fumbling in her pockets. When she didn't find anything in them, she ran across him, to her room, then emerged and stuck a comb in his hair.

Soul didn't speak; he let her weave her way through his messy locks, stopping every now and then to check how he looked. When she was done, she took the comb off his hair, then wrapped him in a tight hug.

"Idiot!" she cried out, her voice cracked, with tears streaming down her face.

He just pulled her close and sighed. "I'm okay."

"If something ever happened," she stopped to sniffle. "If something ever happened to you…I would never…ever…forgive myself…"

She started sobbing, filling the room with inescapable yet unbearable noises of fear. She buried her face on his chest, making his vest even damper. Not that he ever cared.

He placed a hand on her head, kissed her forehead, and pulled her even closer.

"I'm okay."

* * *

He beeped once. No answer. _Beep. _Nope. Nothing.

Feeling a bit exasperated, he turned off the engine and opened the door. He knocked on the door, twice, and adjusted his tie. _Damn, still loose_, he thought as he fiddled with it.

The door opening interrupted his movements, and, as if by instinct, he stopped whatever he was doing and smiled.

"You look beautiful."

"Shut up."

Spirit smiled. Although hearing the news that made him a little snappy (due to the fact that Soul was the one who had proposed to her; he was expecting someone better), he had grown frisky as the wedding day neared. He couldn't be happier for his daughter; when she was happy, he was happy. But when he had tried to give her a compliment, she always gave him the Shut Up, which, obviously worked all the time.

"Is Soul ready yet?"

"Yes, he's on his way to the church now as we speak."

"That's great," she said as she climbed in the passenger seat. Spirit closed it for her, looked through her window and smiled gratefully. With a hint of melancholy.

* * *

_Clang!_

"Congratulations to the newlyweds!" shouted a crowd, tapping their wine glasses together gently.

It had been a really great reception, the guests feeling very welcomed by the waiters and caterers, and especially the couple. Black*Star was near the buffet table, grabbing all edible food in sight, leaving pretty nasty faces from other people behind. But at least he'd learned his manners; there were always some food left over for the others.

As for Kid, he sat down alone on a table, tolerantly waiting for his twin pistols to get back from the bathroom. He held the wine glass in his hands, wondering why he had been invited in the first place. He was never used to being invited to an actual party, since he was always the one inviting others.

"Hey."

Kid, taken aback, almost dropped his glass, until he regained composure and looked up to see who the startling stranger was.

"Oh. Hello."

"Don't you want to get some food? Soul's out back talking with the others, if you wanted to talk to him instead–"

He shook his head. "I'm fine. Death gods don't need food, anyway. And perhaps Soul wouldn't want me to be interrupting their fine conversations."

She smiled sympathetically, then turned around and lifted up her hand for a wave. "Okay. I'll see you later, I guess."

He smiled and waved back too. It was strange, he thought. He didn't need to do all those things, but he still felt a sudden rush of disappointment. Like he had lost something important to him. Maka was right, but could he even dare?

A moment later, though, he exhaled, and went over to Soul. He had noticed that Black*Star, Ox, and Kilik were gathered around Soul, who was crouching down, rubbing his temples irately, whereas Maka's head tilted slightly, worried about the health of her husband (of course, why wouldn't she?).

"Is Soul all right?" Kid asked.

"I'm okay…" Soul replied, a little too early, so he added, "My head hurts a little."

Maka scampered nearby, nearly toppling Kid over as she pushed him off gently, to take a look at how her beloved spouse was doing. "Soul, do you want some ice on that?"

"Ice on what?" he asked.

"Ice on that wound you have," she pointed out, touching his forehead gently.

He winced, letting her pull away her hand. Standing up, he tried walking towards the small minibar at the edge of the room to get some ice, and right then and there, they shared a compassionate hug.

_Flashback end_

* * *

Tsubaki hadn't expected it to go this far.

Her meister, Black*Star, had completely destroyed his own room, leaving nothing but broken pieces of fusuma doors and torn tatami mats. She covered her mouth, holding back blatant tears.

He had yelled in front of almost everyone else's faces. He didn't have time for gym training anymore, either. Heck, he didn't even say anything about being the greatest man alive.

Wild was not the word to describe this assassin anymore.

Insane, probably.

But he wouldn't want it any other way.

* * *

His name is Death the Kid.

The Kid of Death.

As ironic as it sounded, though, he never liked seeing someone dying.

After Liz had explained everything, the world seemed to shrink, one by one, and it'd seem as if after one had gone, the others would follow someday.

* * *

_Flashback_

"A little bit to my left, Soul."

He lifted up the heavy object once more, placing it in the center of her zinnias and marigolds. She lifted her hands up, formed a triangle with her fingers, and focused them on the plants, the trees, the flowers, the big, bright sculpture, and Soul.

He moved forward, making him seem as if he was growing, growing, growing. When he was already in front of her, she dropped her arms instantaneously, yet gently, and he tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"Perfect."

* * *

The light blinked. Once. Maybe even twice. But it never stayed on for even a second.

Maka sat quietly beside the hospital bed, trying to process whatever had happened. Soul's body lay almost lifeless.

She remembered walking back in their new perfect house, which was also newly refurbished, until Soul had dropped suddenly on the ground, rubbing his head rigorously. She tried calming him down and helping him up, but he stayed frantic on the moist grass.

She also remembered shouting his name and shaking him, with no idea on what to do. Her screams were so loud, so luckily, a man in a sweatshirt, jogging pants and a towel placed on his right shoulder came up to her and dialled 911.

"911, what is your emergency?"

"Um, yes, there's a man here in need of medical help, I think he's having an unusual seizure…" the man said, wiping his face with the back of his other hand. "…..No, I don't know him….I'm not sure, I just heard this girl scream and went to help….She looked really stressed…Please…please, just…..just come over and help him. …Yes. I'll give you the address…"

Maka couldn't bear to hear those words aloud. She had hoped she heard him wrong.

_There's a man here in need of medical help._

_He's having an unusual seizure._

_I just heard this girl scream…she looked really stressed._

The tears wouldn't stop falling.

* * *

The ambulance came 3 minutes earlier than expected, and soon, Maka and the stranger helped Soul up on the gurney and finally rushed to the hospital.

And here she was now, holding his hand and hoping everything would be okay. That his seizure isn't going to be a bad thing. That he would stay strong, like he always did. Remembering the scar incident, she controlled her hysterics. Of course, he would stay strong.

* * *

She was proved wrong three days later.

The doctors did their very best (like whatever they said in hospitals), but there wasn't enough time for the medicine to actually work on Soul, and it had become an even bigger threat to his health. He was completely allergic to it.

Maka hadn't known he had a severe allergy for herbal medicine. She never knew anyone actually had. But he did. He did.

Blaming the doctors were a waste of time, though. They had done all tests adequately, and none had shown his allergy towards it.

The stranger didn't hug or comfort her. He picked up his wallet instead, and offered $1,000 for Soul's complete recovery, and more tests, not convinced that Soul'd be gone so easily. But Maka gave him back his money, knowing that he shouldn't have placed a large amount of money for his healing, since it made her a bit guilty about this whole incident, and leaving him involved in this. So one time, when they were alone, she spoke.

"Don't you need to get home?"

He looked surprised as he turned around to face her. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, don't you want to go home yet? Your family or girlfriend or wife might be waiting for you."

"Nope," he claimed, tossing his arms back behind his neck. "Got no wife or girlfriend. And I live in a house with my friends, so they wouldn't really mind me staying behind for a few hours. Curfew is 11pm, though."

"Ah," Maka replied, processing all this. "You should really get back home. I'm serious. It'd be for the best."

"I'm gonna leave you here and sulk alone?"

"Yes," she said, and after the awkward silence that followed, she added, "And don't think about getting with me. I'm going to die his wife, got that?"

"Whoa," the stranger pulled up his arms, lifting them over his head. "I'm not that kind of guy. Sheesh."

Maka sighed, clearly slightly cantankerous about even starting a conversation about this ordeal. She rubbed her temples, then let go, remembering why she was there in the first place, the instant the memory had rushed to her, she stood up and put a hand on her face.

Then she started to cry.

* * *

He was gone too soon; anyone could tell from just a glance.

Maka heard whispers here and there, even as she'd tried to avoid them the second she stepped in the church hallway. It was the second time she'd gone here for something so crucial. The first was her wedding: it was for both her and Soul. But now, as she walked past her father, her friends, and that stranger she'd met that tragic day, she could only focus on what was most important.

Soul.

* * *

"It was quite a day, wasn't it?"

She nodded.

"The procession was damn long, but I'd have to admit, it did pretty well for my feet. Even if they _were_ killing me back there."

"Watch your tone, Liz. Talking about that at a time like this, in front of her."

Liz lifted her hands up in apology; Maka just nodding slightly in response. Kid had sat down beside them after a long day of mourning, and now that it was about 9pm, the procession had finished – the mourning was ongoing, still – they had come over to check up on Maka, completely (well, almost completely) concerned about her.

Kid sighed and shifted in his seat, blatant in his disappointment on the furnishings outside the church, even if it was the Holy House of the Lord.

"Seriously, Liz. You could really use proper management on your words nowadays," Kid pointed out to her. "Look at how you've affected Maka."

"Shut up, Kid. How would you know if I'd affected her?" Liz then looked at Maka expectantly, to which Maka had responded hurriedly with a wince. "Did I affect you in any way with my words?"

Maka frantically swerved her head, unsure of what to say. She'd been like this ever since the terrible tragedy had started. And it wasn't going to end easily, that's for sure. Everyone knew this; it was basically normal for wives to lament on the death of their husbands.

For Maka, it was different, though.

She was going to make things work.

* * *

_Back to present_

She slid open the curtains, having had enough of some sunlight being thrown in her face. She'd been enraptured by it, since it was the second thing she'd always hoped came the second after she opened her eyes.

Of course the first thing she'd hoped to see was Soul.

* * *

Picking up her exquisite leather purse (that Soul had bought for her for their 1st wedding anniversary, along with the enormous house that they'd neatly refurbished before the heartbreaking tragedy), she scanned the room, hoping she didn't forget anything. And with that done, she locked her room door and started down the steps to the front door.

Visiting Soul's grave was a daily "hobby" for Maka nowadays. It was pretty normal. After the procession had ended, Maka had went back to their house, heartbroken on finding his untouched things at the space near the couch. She had picked them up and placed it in their room, still untouched till this day.

And she hadn't started moving on, either. She had forgotten that Soul was really, and truly, gone; it would show. Maka had cooked breakfast for two, a habit that had been with her for as long as they'd been together as partners. She started looking in their room for things to clean, when it fact, there was none. Soul usually makes a mess out of his things, but as he left, he'd cleaned it as one of his daily chores. Now, it was noticeable enough that Soul's marks on her life had impeccably stayed, but had scarred her ever since the tragedy.

But then, upon holding the doorknob, something had dawned on her.

There was nothing wrong with Soul.

It was a weird sudden thought, but then it came back to her. Soul was completely healthy, even before they had gotten married. Even before they were in a relationship. Something wasn't right.

_He's having an unusual seizure…_

No, she thought. He didn't. Well, maybe he did. But he'd never have one without telling her first. That he had this condition all along. Soul wasn't like that.

She immediately turned the knob and ran out, her purse dangling in the wind as the hot summer air pulled her towards her destination. Once she was there, she was sure now that Soul had not died. There was still time.

* * *

"That's ridiculous."

"Completely inadequate."

"Impossible."

"Unreal."

"Sorry, but it's hard to believe."

"Guys, I'm _sure_. Completely, positively, desperately sure."

"That's the problem," Kid shook his head. "You're desperate. You don't want to accept that Soul is gone. Finished. Never coming back."

"I already told you why, Kid. Stop acting like you don't care," Maka slammed her fist on the desk in front of her, clearly making a point in front of the son of the Grim Reaper.

"I do care. I just…" he paused. Then he turned to Liz, who was sitting adjacent to him. She patted him lightly on the shoulder, then he continued. "I'm sorry, but it's just not possible. We verified the fact that your Soul is indeed dead, and we therefore, cannot allow you to bring his casket back to your home."

"I'm not going to take his casket, Kid," Maka slammed her other fist furiously. "I'm going to take his corpse. And I'll show you how I can tell that Soul is still alive."

"Maka," Tsubaki chimed in. "I'm sorry. The doctors in the hospital you went to are trustworthy. And I do know how much you miss and love Soul, but it's time to let go."

"Yeah, man," Black Star adjusted his sitting position, placing his feet on the desk, creating a disgusted look from Kid. "I'm just saying. I mean, it's been, like, four months. Get it off your chest and take it like a man."

Patty nodded. "And if he was really alive, wouldn't he be asking for help under that casket and banging hardly on its door?"

"Patty, even if he did do that, four months is enough to kill him, even if he were alive, there would be no oxygen, and therefore, he'd be gone anyway," Liz explained, bowing her head down solemnly.

Kid turned to Maka. "I'm really sorry for your loss, and I really would want to help you, but–"

"Stop," she said as she lifted her palm up. She swallowed, then continued. "I thought you were my friends."

"We _are _your friends, Maka," Patty frowned, not accepting the fact that Maka was actually clinging to Soul, when in fact, he'd been gone for so long.

"We just doubt your theory on this," Kid rubbed his temples. "It's like biology. Or even science in general. He's dead. And that's it."

Maka shook her head, tears already falling. "No. It's not over."

And with that, she stormed out of the room, weeping in betrayal.

* * *

She cradled the small ring in her hand, unsure of what to do with it. She would never dispose of it; it was the only thing she could find that actually reminded her deeply of her and Soul's intimately true relationship. She could only sigh, knowing it would be safe to just wear it around her right ring finger (4) for the rest of her days.

Maka Evans (5) was officially a widow.

Well, she didn't really _want _to be called a widow, since she felt strongly that something had definitely gone wrong when Soul had – in her point of view – "died" (with emphasis on the quotation marks). She knew in her heart that he is still alive somehow.

And that's why, on this moment, Maka turned to Lord Death.

* * *

"42-42-564…"

She paused, repeating the same steps she had done the first time she and Soul had caught their 99th kishin soul: Jack the Ripper. Now, as she stood in front of the glass window of the dress shop, she could only think of Soul, and that moment when they stood waiting for Lord Death to come in view, and what had happened ever since.

"…whenever you wanna knock on Death's door."

She pulled away from the window childish-ly, with the same kind of movement she had done back then.

Lord Death faded slowly into view in front of her, nearly jerking her awake from her flashback. "Oh, hello, Maka-chan~ Sorry to wake you up on your daydream there~"

Maka shook her head politely. "No, it's fine, Lord Death. It's nice to see you in good shape today."

"To you too, Maka-chan~"

"I was just calling in to ask you a question, Sir," Maka spoke seriously.

"Oh~?"

"And it's about Soul."

* * *

"Come on, dude. She's your friend; she won't stay mad at you forever."

"Yes, but, I'm still really anxious as to what she would say to me as soon as she opens the door."

"I'm pretty sure Maka's calmed down by now."

"Yeah! Yeah! She'll be fine!"

"Oh, but don't forget to ask for her forgiveness sincerely. She'd hate it if you were smiling or wailing terribly off key as you did."

"Liz, I'm not going to smile or wail."

"Then you won't have a problem." She knocks twice.

"W-wait! My perfect speech! I-I need to process it in my mind before asking for her forgiveness!"

"Give it a rest, Kid." Two big knocks from Black*Star.

"B-Black*Star, not too hard now." Tsubaki puts a hand gently on his shoulder to stop him.

"Oh? Maka's not home?" Patty bounces over to the window.

Kid instantly stops banging on his head, which he had done to try to remember his forgiveness speech. "She's not?"

"Nope!" Patty scans the area through the window, a few furniture here and there that were untouched were in plain view as she peered in.

Kid's head tilted slightly in wonder. Black*Star stopped knocking the door and peered in as well.

"Damn, where could she be?"

* * *

"Oh, I see. Are you sure about what you're trying to say, Maka-chan?"

"Yes. I'm positive," she sighed before continuing, "I just want to believe that he really is still alive. He couldn't have just died of something he didn't tell me of, right?"

"Yes, I suppose that's a definite reason, but…"

Maka narrowed her eyes at him, cocking an eyebrow as she did so. "But?"

Lord Death stuck two foamy hands before her, not knowing what to do in this situation. "Er, um..Well, you see, Maka-chan, this process isn't that simple."

"It doesn't matter," she said as she pumped a fist to her chest. "I'll get him back no matter what it takes."

Lord Death puts his hands down and sighs. "It's seriously not something to be messed with, Maka-chan. You could be put in grave danger."

"I'll be fine. All I care about is Soul right now."

"He's gone, Maka."

She turned around to see a familiar red-headed male, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Papa? Wha-what are you–"

"We've checked his body just a few hours ago. It's impossible. He's gone, Maka."

She didn't want to cry.

"I'm sorry."

But tears had already fallen.

* * *

_Flashback_

"Maka! Maka! Hurry, or we'll be late!"

"Okay! Okay, Soul! Wait up!"

She scoffed at her own bad luck; having woken up late did have its better days. Her heel barely scuffed the pavement with her overt speed, struggling to catch up with her partner.

"Glad you made it, slowpoke." He grinned, showing his teeth. Maka merely smiled, just happy to have made it in time for the first bell. "Come on, let's go inside."

* * *

Soul yawns once, as they exited the room with spaced out faces.

"Did you really think I was…pretty?" Maka had almost choked on the last word, not believing a single thing.

He closed his mouth and looked back at Maka. She froze and blushed, the moment still fresh in her mind.

"If I didn't mean it, I wouldn't have kissed you afterwards, right?" He shrugged at the last word, as if he'd done it every day.

She pouted and turned away, still slightly blushing. The kiss had a bitter aftertaste for the fact that Soul had actually shrugged the thought off. Still, there was really something in her first kiss (and unbelievingly, it was Soul's first, too) that had made her…really feel beautiful.

* * *

"Why did you write that down?"

"What?"

"That thing…in that…blackboard thing…"

"_A sound soul dwells within a sound mind and a sound body_? With the _Incomplete_ thing?"

"Exactly."

She shrugged. "I just wanted to show everyone that not just anybody can achieve that, right?"

He sighed. "We had to learn that the hard way, though."

She smiled. "Yeah."

"I'll never forget that, you know?"

"Never forget what?" She stood up.

"Our mission, where we met Blair."

Her face scrunched up, disgusted. "Sorry, but I'd rather forget that."

He neared her. "Why would you? That was the first time I'd actually acknowledged you as my 'forever partner'." He knew the corniness in his speech, but somehow he couldn't stop.

She had felt that it had gone a bit awkward, so she said, "Um, I guess so. But I didn't really do anything to you then." Bowing down her head, she continued. "And I just wanted to say I was sorry for arguing with you and yelling at you."

"It's okay," he said, tilting her head up and kissing her gently as the moon rises up from behind them.

"And you?" she asked after the kiss.

"Me what?"

"Are you okay?"

"Of course I am." He patted her on the head. "I'm okay."

* * *

"Sparrrrrklleeee!"

"That's stupid."

"SPPPAAAARRRRKLLLLLLLLLLEEEE!"

"Soul, you're weirding me out now."

"SPEARKLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYY!"

"MAKA-CHOP!"

The intense burn chafed his head hard, and as he was rubbing it to lessen the pain, he said, "I was just trying to tell you how beautiful you looked as you sparkled in the moonlight."

"You already said that."

"Yeah, but you told me to repeat it, especially the word 'Sparkle', so I did." He touched his wound, only to flinch a second later.

Maka smiled, reaching in her purse to get a few Band-Aids and a few aiding agents. He backed away as soon as he saw them, but when she had started rubbing it on his wound, he felt a strange sudden thrill of euphoria. He sighed in delight, wondering what she had placed in his cells.

"It's a special type of healing agent that helps conduct my wavelength through you," Maka paused to rub some more, then continuing, "thus curing you bit by bit. Stein-hakase made it." (6)

Letting go of her hand, Soul placed his own on top of his wound and smiled. "I love you."

"E-eh?" Maka shook her head, blushing. "I-it's nothing really, no need to say that, sheesh, Soul.."

"You really do sparkle in the moonlight," he said, before pulling her into a tight kiss.

* * *

"Soul, it's beautiful."

"Just like you."

"Stop being so cheesy!"

"I'm not trying to. Besides, being cheesy would mean being uncool." He points at the engraving inside the ring. "See that? It says…"

"…_Sheen_? What, like Charlie?" (7)

He almost laughed at the joke, but then pointed at it again. "That means 'shining' or 'beautiful', you bookworm."

Maka smiled. "Oh." She'd expected something more extravagant, like a simple 'I Love You' written on it, or a cool saying that isn't overused such as 'Forever in Love' or something. But it would do.

"It's the perfect word to describe you."

"Well, then what's written on yours, Soul?" She asked out of curiosity.

He pulled out his ring gently and showed it to her.

"_Maka._"

_Flashback end_

* * *

It's really hard to move on.

It's even harder to forget something that should have been forever.

She took the ring in her hand and hugged it tightly. It was her only memory of him. Sure enough, she could hear his voice ringing sweetly and softly in her memories.

"_Maka._"

"_I love you._"

She smiled. _I love you too._

And she lets go.

_Fin_

* * *

**A/N: ****(1) ****I'm pretty sure B*S would say something like that.**

**(2) ****That bulletin board we first saw in the second episode, am I right? With all the missions and cute little black paper stuff? o 3 o**

**(3) ****Soul is 21 and Maka is 20 here. It's kinda weird that they still act a bit like teens (cuz they're kinda technically teenagers anyway, right?)**

**(4) I don't know if this is true, because when I had asked my mother where she had put her wedding/engagement ring, she'd always tell me that it was worn on the right ring finger. But I don't know if it's the same with you guys. I'm just basing this on my mother's words.**

**(5) ****Is it really okay for widows to still have the last name of their husbands? Or does it depend if they want it to? Please tell me~**

**(6) ****Read the fanfiction "Nursing a Soul Eater" by clexausic. It's a wonderful fanfic, where I had based this line on.**

**(7) ****I poke fun at a lot of people, especially if their names can be used as puns. But, I hope there's no harm done; I don't mean to hurt anyone.**

**Like? Hope so. :) Thanks for reading, and it took me a long time to do this so…..**

**REVIEW~ ^^**


	7. Get-away

Fifty-one Words of Love

FLUFF COMING UP

Special thanks for liking my previous fanfics and previous chapters of this fanfic! I'm hoping to make some Rise of the Guardians fanfics sooner or later. In the meantime, though, enjoy this fluffy SoMa story! Hope it'll at least satisfy your SoMa need.

Rated T. For Soul's cursing.

Summary: Maka and Soul go on a vacation. What can they do to pass the time?

* * *

**Chapter 7: GET-AWAY**

get-away (noun)

-escape

-flight

-an act of getting away

* * *

A whack to the head was the first thing that Soul remembered that morning.

"What's with the Maka Chop first thing in the morning, anyway, Maka?" he scoffed, rubbing his head as he ate his breakfast wearing a grossed-out face. He didn't like cereal for breakfast.

His meister, whilst pulling out her tongue in annoyance at him, was busy packing different things into her bag. "It would have gone well if you didn't oversleep!" She hurriedly checked her watch and sighed.

"You didn't tell me beforehand that we had something to do! God," he cursed, gulping down another mouthful of the not-so-delicious meal.

"We're already 10 minutes behind, Soul," Maka lifted a bag and patted his shoulder while passing by him. "Hurry up and finish your breakfast."

Soul managed a nod as he raised his bowl and drank the rest of the milk from it. Afterwards, he approached the dishwasher and placed the bowl inside it. Maka, meanwhile, was tapping her foot impatiently, checking her watch every other minute.

The weapon sighed in exasperation as he took a bag from his closet and threw a few stuff into it, without much thought. _It's just summer break; it's not like we need much stuff_, Soul told himself, then he hoisted his bag above his shoulders.

"Okay, I'm ready," he said smoothly as he walked towards Maka with a grin on his face.

She didn't reply directly, instead, she pushed Soul out the door and closed it. Without another word, Maka locked the door with a click and smiled at her weapon.

"You are such a slowpoke," she chuckled, patting his shoulder and walking out the apartment with him.

* * *

Annoying.

Really annoying.

"I told you already, I'm not interested in your fancy wine," Soul said, rubbing his temples.

The flight stewardess nodded her head awkwardly and plastered on a fake smile, setting the wine bottle back down on the cart she used. Mentally reminding herself not to come back to that seat again, she walked off nonchalantly.

Maka sighed. "You can't just shove everyone off with such rudeness, Soul. It's not how life's supposed to work."

"Everyone's rude some point in their lives," he turned to her. "Even you, at times."

Maka shot Soul a look then leaned her elbow on the edge of the window. She was lucky she got the window seat.

Soul looked around. "Do they even serve any food in this plane?"

Maka looked at her watch. "It's not lunch time yet."

As if on cue, Soul's stomach grumbled in hunger. Maka simply giggled. She zipped open her bag and took out a box of Pocky. The weapon's eyes widened.

"I'm not playing that game with you, Maka."

"What?"

"That game."

"What game?"

"What do you mean 'what game'? You don't know the Pocky game?"

Maka looked at the box she was holding. "I… no, I don't."

Soul blushed. He covered his cheeks with his hand, so she wouldn't see.

"Do you want to play the game?" she asked.

Soul shook his head. "I told you, I'm not playing."

"Tell me how to play."

He nearly choked. _Dammit._

"Please?" she plead, her hands formed into a praying position. "In exchange, we can do whatever you want when we go to our destination."

Soul's ears perked up. "You sure?"

Maka simply nodded. "Definitely. You can pick out the stops and everything."

He grinned. _Okay then…_

He cleared his throat. "The rules are simple," he explained, grabbing the box from her hands and pulled out a piece of Pocky. "You only need two people. Both have to bite each end and eat it off until the middle." His grin widened as he said the next part. "The first to pull away is the loser."

Maka blushed. Soul knew she didn't like losing. This was going to be interesting.

"S-so, that means we have to…" she trailed off, looking at the box.

"You don't need to if you don't want to play," he shrugged and ate the stick of Pocky he was holding. "Besides, the deal is done. You only asked for the rules anyway."

She laughed nervously. _He's right_, she thought, _but I bet he'll take us somewhere unnecessary later on…_

Maka sat up and looked at Soul directly in the eye. "Okay, that deal is off. The new deal is that whoever wins the Pocky game will be the one to pick out the stops."

He raised an eyebrow. _This is definitely new._

"Why make that deal? Don't you trust me with all the stops I've already planned?" he said, remembering that he wanted to go to a trendy restaurant that served great pasta.

She simply shook her head, which made Soul irked. "No, I don't trust you with the stops. I have better stops planned."

Soul shrugged and smirked. "You won't win, you know. I guarantee your defeat," he mocked, taking another stick of Pocky from the box.

Maka glared at him. "Bring it on."

* * *

"Uh… n-nine out of ten?"

"Maka, we did this for like, nine times, and all you did was chicken out before you could even reach the center," Soul complained. He took the last Pocky stick. "The stakes were set, you know."

"Okay, okay," she calmed down and sighed. "What about whoever wins is the one to pick out all the stops, then the other will have to pay for the most of the expenses?"

Soul snickered. "You'll just lose again." He bit the other end of the stick. "I don't even know if you'll stick it out until the middle."

Maka breathed in and out. Soul looked at her. _Is she serious she's gonna win…?_

"The stakes are set, Soul," she smiled and bit the other end. "May the best one win."

* * *

**A/N: I know it's crappy but I hope you enjoyed the fluff! The next chapter is the continuation, since I'm really OUT OF IDEAS.**

**Who will win? w I want the readers to decide!**

**Thanks again for liking my fanfics and reviewing them. It means a lot.**

**More stories coming up soon, hopefully! 'Till then, please review!**


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